I was really excited when I got this dish in our latest swap – which was Mexican themed – but it almost didn’t get made.
I recently shared another Chicken Mole Enchilada recipe. We liked it, but it relied on store-bought mole and I told myself next time I’d make my own mole sauce. I didn’t realize I’d get the chance so soon! I added this one to the meal plan, went grocery shopping… and then couldn’t find the chilies needed for the sauce. Like, anywhere.
I have no idea why these were so hard to find, but we ended up going store to store bound and determined to make this mole ourselves. I may have done a little happy dance when we finally got a hold of them.
If you can track down the chilies, it’s totally worth making the sauce from scratch. These enchiladas are great – and quite different from the ones I made previously – but I’m sure I’ll be using the sauce in other dishes too!
For the mole:
5 dried pasilla or ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
1 1/2 c. hot water
Handful of tortilla chips
2 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 3/4 c. chicken stock
3 T. smooth peanut butter
1 T. sugar
1 t. dried oregano
3 oz. Mexican chocolate, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the enchiladas:
8 whole wheat tortillas
1 lb. chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3/4 cup Mexican blend cheese
To make the mole: Soak the dried chiles in 1 1/2 cups hot water for 15 minutes to reconstitute them, then drain and set aside. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the diced onions, season with salt and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute, until fragrant. Reserve 1/4 of the onion mixture and set aside.
Transfer the remaining onion and garlic mixture to a blender. Add in remaining mole ingredients except for the chocolate and blend until very smooth. Return the sauce to the saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in the chocolate until thoroughly melted. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.
To make the enchiladas: Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In a large bowl, toss together the chicken and reserved onion mixture. Stir in half of the mole sauce until well combined. Take 1/2 cup of mole sauce and spread it in the bottom of a 9×13″ baking pan.
Divide chicken mixture between tortillas. Roll up and place seam-side down in the prepared baking pan. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.
You can check out the other Mexican swap dishes below. Thanks, Sarah, for hosting!
You found the chiles!! Yay!! I was so surprised you couldn’t find them at first but I admire your perseverance! I’m sure the sauce tasted incredible being homemade. 🙂
I can never find canned mole sauce so I’m glad to see a recipe for homemade sauce! I wonder if there’s anything I can sub for the peanut butter since I don’t eat it? Hmmm….these still look amazing!
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Sorry you had problems finding the ingredients!! I love this recipe…you are very right that there is nothing like a scratch sauce!
You found the chiles!! Yay!! I was so surprised you couldn’t find them at first but I admire your perseverance! I’m sure the sauce tasted incredible being homemade. 🙂
I can never find canned mole sauce so I’m glad to see a recipe for homemade sauce! I wonder if there’s anything I can sub for the peanut butter since I don’t eat it? Hmmm….these still look amazing!
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